


How It Should Have Been

by busy_bee7



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Again, Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Castiel Saves Dean Winchester, Castiel and Dean Winchester Reunion, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Dean Winchester Lives, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Everyone lives, First Kiss, Fuck Canon, Love Confessions, M/M, get a new job cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 09:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28348959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/busy_bee7/pseuds/busy_bee7
Summary: Do you think Castiel wouldn't have left heaven to save Dean again? Of course he would. Anyway, the ending they deserved.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 82





	How It Should Have Been

Sam’s sobs were the only sound that filled the barn. Save for the rustling of the wind outside and the occasional muffled cry of an animal, Sam Winchester’s grief consumed the air around him, filling up the universe with sorrow. After everything he had been through with Dean, losing him to a simple hunt hurt more than he could process. Dean had just closed his eyes for the last time when Sam pulled him off the pole he had gotten pushed onto. He tried to ignore the bleeding, laying him down on the floor of the barn and wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve. Sam took in one last deep breath and stood, turning on his heel to find the kids that his brother and he had managed to save.

The kids were okay – traumatized – but physically okay. Sam tried his best to put on a cheerful and brave face for the kids, but he was sure they knew something was amiss. The drive to the sheriff’s office was silent. Explaining that he had seen them in the woods while driving, Sam managed to avoid the lengthy questioning he usually got after returning victims to their families. Dread filled him as he realized he now had to return to the barn to not only bury the vampire remains, but also retrieve Dean’s body and begin preparing for a funeral. Sam pulled out his phone, sending a text out to Eileen. He had managed to salvage his relationship with her in the weeks that followed Chuck’s demise. They had begun texting and even meeting up for drinks recently.

_There was an accident, Eileen. Dean didn’t make it. I need to prepare for a funeral. Could you come to the bunker tomorrow?_

It was almost four am, he clicked his phone off as he didn’t expect a response for a few hours. Sam drove back to the barn. As he walked in, however, there was a feeling in the air he could sense was…different.

“Who’s there?” Sam called out into the dark, whipping out his flashlight, and as it clicked on, he found himself face to face with bright blue eyes and a face of shock. _Castiel._

“Cas?” he managed to say, feeling a lack of air in his lungs. How was Cas here?

“Sam. Dean is okay. I healed him,” Castiel stopped to roll his eyes exasperatedly, “Again. He will need to rest; his soul was already on its way to heaven. Jack told me that he didn’t want to intervene, but to be fair, he never said _I_ couldn’t.” Cas turned and walked in the direction of where Sam had left Dean. Sam followed, at a loss for words.

Dean lay in the hay where Sam had left him, but his face was calm, the blood was gone, and his chest rose and fell softly. Sam let out a soft sigh, tears trailing down his face again, as he realized that Dean – and Cas – were _alive._

“How, Cas, how are you here?”

“The Empty didn’t exactly expect me and a few of the other angels to begin annoying it so much that it couldn’t sleep. Once it began yelling, Jack heard it. He opened a portal to heaven. I am back, Sam. Returned to full power. I am once again an angel. I have fully healed grace. Dean Winchester is saved.”

Sam pulled Cas into a very strong hug. “We’re done. Cas, we’re not hunting anymore. I don’t care if you can heal us. We’re done.”

Cas pulled back and smiled, slightly sadly. “Would you like me to take you to the bunker and return to heaven?” Sam frowned.

“You have to be here when Dean wakes up. Cas, you’re family. Stay with us, at least for a while. Please.”

“I…am not sure Dean will want to see me, Sam. It may be best if I do not return with you.”

“What? Cas, I know you and Dean were having a tough time before this, but he wants to see you, I promise.” Castiel sighed as if he knew something Sam didn’t, but touched Dean and Sam’s hands, and they all were moved to the bunker.

_I don’t want to die like this. Sammy, I – Cas! Cas, we never got to save him! I have to save Cas! I love you. I love you. I love you. Please, Jack. Jack are you there? Sammy! Please! Cas! Castiel!_

Dean jerked awake and immediately sat up, not even noticing he wasn’t in his bed at the bunker. He reached for the gun under his mattress, and only then did he realize he was on a sofa in an unfamiliar room. Swallowing hard, he rolled himself off the sofa and slowly got to his feet. Dean blinked rapidly when he realized he wasn’t in pain. Why wasn’t he in pain? He was always in pain. What was happening? _Am I in shock?_ he wondered to himself. No, he was present in his mind. Wait…he died. Dean rapidly ran to the nearest window in the room he woke up in. It was sunny, blue sky and green grass met his gaze. Was he in heaven? Dean pinched himself. It hurt. Then he heard the sound of keys in a doorknob and some laughing coming from what he could only assume was the kitchen. Weaponless and exhausted, Dean crept up slowly to the door, and just when it started to open, he threw himself against the body entering the house.

“Dean! Woah! Woah, Dean! Dean, It’s me!” Sam cried, pushing his brother off him, watching the realization dawn on his face.

“Sam!” Dean threw himself at the other man again, this time clutching him tightly in his arms. As he opened his eyes, he took in the sight of Eileen. “Am I in heaven?” he asked.

“No, Dean, Cas saved you. Again. He always does,” Sam answered, putting down the bags he was carrying into the house. Eileen stepped in, smiling, and closed the door behind her. “You’ve been out for a few days, but you should be fully healed.”

“Cas…Cas died. Sam – what?” Dean bit out, still slightly bleary and now extremely confused. His heart beat in his chest at the mention of the angel. _I love you. Goodbye, Dean._

“He got out. Jack helped. He’s in heaven now, but I’m sure he’ll visit.”

The sound of a flutter of wings, one that Dean had heard dozens of times hit his ears. His heart practically flew. Sam and Eileen continued to put their groceries away, leaving Cas and Dean to be.

“Hello, Dean. How are you feeling?” Dean hesitated, not believing his ears, but finally turned to see Cas. There he was, in all his re-found angelic glory. The man was practically glowing, a slight smile on his face, blue eyes beaming with hints of tears already welling up in them. Dean let out a soft laugh, moving forward to clutch Castiel tight to his chest. He dipped his head into the nook of Cas’s neck and simply whispered his name into the fabric.

“How long have you been back?” Dean asked, hands clenched in the terrible tan trench coat he had grown to love the sight of.

“When Chuck was defeated,” Cas started, loosening up and hugging Dean in return, “I felt Jack calling to me. I managed to stay awake long enough to find a few of my brothers and sisters willing to fight against the Empty with me. As long as we were awake, the Empty was awake. Jack opened a portal, and we left. In the Empty, it was a year, here, a month.” Dean dropped his head lower, still not letting go of the angel. Cas let his head fall onto Dean’s. “I was planning to stay in heaven, restoring what was once good and fixing it, but…you deserved to live, Dean. I had to save you. My deepest flaw always was my love for humanity.”

At the mention of love, Dean opened his eyes, pulling back just enough to see Cas’s bright blue eyes, trails of his tears lining his cheeks and neck. Dean realized his face was wet as well.

“Cas, you said, before you died, that you love me. I never got to say anything. You’re our family, Cas, we treated you terribly at times. I’m sorry. Please, Cas, don’t leave. Not again, I really can’t live without you - obviously."

“You’re my family too, now, Dean. I will if you’ll let me. I will shed my grace and live as a human. That is my wish," Cas stated, but then he hesitated, taking a few deep breaths and looking at his feet. "But Dean, you must know that I did not mean I love you as a brother.”

Dean’s hammering heart skipped, his body reacting to the confession of the angel more strongly than he felt he could put into words. Eyes blurry from tears and hands aching from holding Castiel’s trench coat so tightly, he murmured, “I didn’t want to assume, Cas. I hoped - ”

“I love you, Dean. In a way that angels shouldn’t be able to. I wish for nothing less than to shed my grace and let myself feel the humanity of love. But only if you wish too.”

“I wish,” Dean nodded desperately, “I want you, Castiel. Please, stay. Cas, I need you. I love you, too. I’m done hunting, I’m done fighting. I want to live and have a family; I need to reconnect with everyone and tell them it’s over. I deserve my goddamn apple pie live, Cas. But I can’t have it with anyone else,” Dean confessed. Cas smiled, looked up, and closed his eyes. He let out a soft breath, and with it flew the blue light that Dean recognized as Castiel’s grace. He licked his lips and watched it flow into Cas’s pocket, where he pulled out a capsule on a chain.

“Bottled grace,” Dean laughed quietly. He let his hands flow from the lapels of Cas’s coat to his hands, where he ran his thumbs over the callouses on his fingertips. “You’ll always be my angel, though,” he murmured.

“I don’t want anything else,” Cas whispered back and leaned in to softly kiss Dean. It was careful in a way that Dean had never been kissed before, it was he was something delicate and worth loving, not a hookup or a killer. He pressed in further, only to hear a cough from behind him.

“Glad you’re feeling okay,” Sam said, arms crossed and a smile on his face. Dean flushed but let go of the angel and faced his brother.

“Oh, you’re one to talk. Eileen, again, huh? This your place?”

“Hers, not ours,” he rushed out, glaring at his brother.

“I’d be happy to share,” smiled Eileen, wrapping an arm around Sam’s waist. She signed something quickly, something to make Sam’s entire head go red, and Cas to let out a cough.

“Alright, cool, great. Time for me to learn sign language,” huffed Dean, feeling excluded.

“Dean, perhaps you don’t want to,” said Cas wisely.

The sound of laughter filled the air. Tomorrow they would call their friends and family, go visit Jody and Donna, Claire and Kaia, Charlie and Stevie, and the rest.


End file.
